State v. Lamb

• Decision Date: 19 May 2014
• Citation: 95 A.3d 123,218 N.J. 300
• Court: New Jersey Supreme Court
• Parties: STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Respondent, v. Michael W. LAMB, Defendant–Appellant.

218 N.J. 300

95 A.3d 123

STATE of New Jersey, Plaintiff–Respondent,

v.Michael W. LAMB, Defendant–Appellant.

Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Argued Oct. 22, 2013.

Decided May 19, 2014.

Jay L. Wilensky, Assistant Deputy Public Defender, argued the cause for appellant (Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney).

Frank J. Ducoat, Deputy Attorney General, argued the cause for respondent (John J. Hoffman, Acting Attorney General of New Jersey, attorney).

Judge CUFF (temporarily assigned) delivered the opinion of the Court.

This appeal involves the validity of a warrantless consent search of a house. An investigation of a reported shooting in another part of town led Pennsville police to the house in which police knew defendant Michael W. Lamb had resided at one time. When police arrived, defendant's stepfather emphatically informed police that they were not welcome on his property or in his house.

While defendant's stepfather informed police that they could not enter his home, defendant's girlfriend appeared at the door and left the house. She supplied information to police that provided probable cause for defendant's arrest and confirmed his presence in the house.

Later, defendant's stepfather agreed to leave the house. Soon thereafter, defendant left the house at the insistence of his mother. She remained in the house with three children between the ages of eight months and nine years and a loaded gun.

Defendant's mother permitted police officers to enter the house and agreed to a search of the room where her son and his girlfriend were staying. Police located a loaded handgun and ammunition similar to the equipment used in the earlier shooting.

We conclude that the consent to search provided by defendant's mother was knowing, voluntary, and valid. The absence of defendant and his stepfather from the home permitted defendant's mother to provide or withhold consent. Fernandez v. California, 571 U.S. ––––, 134 S.Ct. 1126, 188 L.Ed.2d 25 (2014). Furthermore, the initial opposition expressed by defendant's stepfather was no longer effective once he was not physically present in his home.

Under the totality of the circumstances, we hold that the warrantless search of defendant's bedroom was solidly anchored to the knowing and voluntary consent to search given by defendant's mother.

I.

We derive the facts from the evidentiary hearing conducted by the motion court in response to defendant's motion to suppress the handgun seized following a consent search of his mother and stepfather's home authorized by his mother.

On July 3, 2009, Pennsville police received a report of a discharge of a firearm on a city street in the Deepwater section of town. The victims, a man and a woman, told police that they encountered defendant, first on foot and then as a passenger in a car. Defendant initially approached the victims and inquired about the location of a particular individual. The male victim advised defendant that he did not know the man. Defendant left but returned moments later in a car driven by his girlfriend, Jennifer Garcia. She stopped the car alongside the male victim, and defendant, who was seated in the front passenger seat, resumed his questioning about the whereabouts of the man he was trying to locate. During this conversation, defendant identified himself as Michael Lamb and told the victims he was from Quinton, a town about ten miles from Pennsville.

The male victim reiterated his earlier statement that he did not know the man whom defendant sought, but the female victim started to volunteer some information. The male victim silenced her, and defendant and the male victim continued to discuss whether the male victim had any knowledge of the other person. Then, defendant produced a handgun. The male victim reached through the open window, grabbed defendant's arm, and pushed the gun toward the floor of the car. Garcia started to drive from the scene and the male victim removed his hand from defendant's arm. As the car pulled away, the male victim saw defendant lean out of the front passenger seat window and point the gun in his direction. As the male and female victims ran into a yard, the male victim saw a flash from the muzzle of the gun and heard a discharge. Police later found a .45 caliber spent shell casing close to the curb where defendant had discharged the gun.

A police database search revealed that defendant had lived with his parents at Lot 18 of the South Bridge Community Mobile Home Park in Pennsville. In an attempt to locate defendant, Pennsville Township Police Detective Greg Acton drove through the community in an unmarked car and observed two cars at Lot 18 that matched the descriptions provided by the victims. After securing the area, Detective Acton drove to the residence and observed a middle-aged white male standing on a step. As the detective exited his car, the male, later identified as Steven Marcus, defendant's stepfather, immediately entered the house.

Acton and another officer approached the door and knocked. When Acton received no response, he knocked harder. Through the unopened door, the detective heard a male voice yell that the police should leave the property. The detective banged on the door again, and Marcus opened the door. The detective told Marcus that he was looking for defendant. Marcus stated that defendant was not there and emphatically demanded that the police leave the premises.

The detective observed, standing behind Marcus, a young woman, who matched the description of the driver of the car carrying defendant and who was later identified as Garcia. The officer asked whether the young woman was defendant's girlfriend and if defendant was in the house. As Garcia approached the door, the detective took her arm and removed her from the house. All the while, Marcus was yelling for the police to get out of the house and leave his property.

Garcia told the officer that defendant was in the house and hiding under a bed in the room they occupied when they visited defendant's mother and stepfather. She also confirmed that she had driven defendant to the Deepwater section of Pennsville, that a conversation occurred between defendant and another male that escalated into a verbal argument, and that she saw the gun and observed defendant fire a shot into the air. Garcia told the detective that she did not know whether defendant remained in possession of the gun. Detective Acton also learned that, in addition to defendant, two adults and three children between the ages of eight months and nine years were in the house.

Detective Acton ordered other officers to evacuate nearby residences and requested assistance from the police department and the county prosecutor. Once the area was secure, police placed a telephone call to the residence to persuade either defendant or Marcus to leave the residence. After approximately ten to fifteen minutes, Marcus left the residence. He was placed in custody and removed to a safe area. Police continued to speak with Karen Marcus, the mother of defendant and wife of Marcus. Approximately ten minutes later, at the insistence of his mother, defendant left the house and was arrested. Officers from the county prosecutor's office and Detective Acton went to the entrance of the house to speak with Karen.¹

Karen later admitted that she signed a consent-to-search form but insisted that she did not do so voluntarily. She testified that the police informed her that they would obtain a search warrant if she refused to consent to a search. Karen also related that the police threatened that the entire family might spend the night in jail, if she refused to consent to the search. Karen testified that one of her daughters was very distraught, that she did not want her new home torn apart in a search, and that she was very upset that her son's behavior had brought the police to her home. Therefore, she signed the form without reading it and unwillingly guided the officers to the room used by defendant when he stayed at the house. Police found a Taurus .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun with five rounds in the chamber and an extra magazine in a box in a closet of the bedroom.

II.

A.

Defendant was indicted on two counts of attempted murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:5–1, 2C:11–3(a); four counts of aggravated assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:12–1(b)(1); one count of unlawful possession of a handgun, N.J.S.A. 2C:39–5(b); and one count of possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, N.J.S.A. 2C:39–4(a).

Defendant filed a motion to suppress the evidence seized from his bedroom. Defendant argued that his mother's will had been overborne by police. He emphasized that she was frightened and believed she had no choice but to consent to a search of her house. Under the circumstances, defendant insisted that her consent to search was not voluntary.

The State argued that the warrantless search of the Marcus residence was reasonable because Karen consented to the search. The State emphasized that Karen read the consent-to-search form, knew she could refuse consent, and knew that the search would focus initially on the room recently occupied by her son. The State acknowledged that police informed Karen that they would obtain a search warrant if she refused consent, but argued that providing accurate information does not undermine an otherwise knowing and voluntary consent to search.

The motion court denied the motion to suppress, finding that Karen acted voluntarily and without coercion. The court generally credited and adopted Detective Acton's version of the events. The motion court noted that Karen admitted that the police advised her she could refuse and withdraw consent. The trial court further found that there was probable cause to search the premises, and therefore, it was not improper for the police to suggest that they would obtain a search warrant if Karen refused consent. The motion court acknowledged that Karen was undoubtedly upset and frightened and noted her admission...